Once I was a Muggle
by imyimagines
Summary: A tale of the adventures of a young Muggle-born witch called Vicky, going to Hogwarts with the next generation of young witches and wizards.
1. Chapter 1

Once I was a Muggle

Chapter 1

"So you see Mum, I'm different. Really different. These people want me because there are other different people like me. I can go and learn… magic! I can't waste this opportunity Mum, I honestly can't. I have a chance to go to a school with hundreds of people just like me. It'll help me so much. I can learn how to control my…my…powers! Please Mum! I'm begging you! I have no one here. Not since what happened. Even Sofie won't speak to me anymore because of what happened. I-I-I'm called the freak at school. It hurts Mum. Please…" and that's when the sobs started, tears ran down my face and dripped onto the floor, onto the crumpled paper in my hand and the lump in my throat gave way.

"Jesus, Vic. I know what happened was bad, I know. But this is so weird. We don't even know who these people are! I can't just-"

"Mum! We do! It says it all right here," I say, jabbing the papers with my index finger, "you need to let me do this! They want me! I-I-I'm special, for once!" another loud sob punctuated the start of a long silence. My mum held out a hand and I pressed the letters into it. She sat down on the long beige sofa behind her and pushed her hair out of her face, adjusted her glasses and scanned through my letters. I knew what they said word for word now, I had read them over and over again, prizing every piece of information out of them, and it was like a miracle. It was exactly what I needed. There were people out there like me, people who couldn't control what they did, people who were strange, weirdos, out casts. Moments of long silence dragged out until my mother looked up from the papers and looked me straight in the eyes.

"So?" I said carefully, brushing fresh tears from my cheeks and pushing my hair behind my ear.

"Vic, I understand why you want this so bad. I love you very very much." She took a deep breath and exhaled through her teeth, "It's crazy, it's beyond weird. But you need this." I a gasp escaped my pursed lips and I didn't hesitate to fling my arms around her neck and hug her tight. It was like a thousand Christmases has come at once and it felt so amazing.

"Mum, I love you so much. Thank you!" tears rolled down my cheeks as I said these words of thanks, meaning every one of them.

"Please be careful Vic. Please. I want you to do this, but neither of us understand it. I don't want you caught up in something you can't control." she said, a look of genuine fear and utter sincerity on her face. "I-I love you so much Vicky. We will sort this all out. We haven't got long, according to this letter you need to have sent an owl? By July 31st and its already the 20th of August. I'll write to this, Minerva woman this evening. God, magic. Who knew." She shook her head in utter disbelief.

"Where are we gonna get all this stuff, Mum? It's not like I can go down to Tesco's and ask for a wand is it. Can you ask about that in your letter too? I dunno what to say." I rambled. I was so worried now, Mum had agreed, but I still had no clue how to handle the whole shopping list ordeal. "I'm gonna make some tea Mum. Do you want some?" She was already sat at her desk in the corner of the living room with my letters, reading and reading them over and over. She nodded as I spoke, half listening half still in shock. I took that as my cue and headed into the kitchen to make us both some tea. It was so surreal how quickly the whole situation had changed, one moment we were eating lunch, the next I had got the letter out, then the tears came after the shouts; now I was making a cup of tea.

I heard my Mum muttering from her desk, she was writing notes now. She was such a strange lady, she wrote notes about EVERYTHING. She would plan this letter to perfection. I poured boiling water over two Earl Grey tea bags, nestled in Disney mugs, dunked them in and out over and over until I saw it fit to remove them, add a little milk and two sugars in each. I picked her Minnie Mouse mug up by its thick handle and took it through to her, resting it on the coaster in the right hand corner of her desk. I glimpsed at her note pad, covered in words taken from my letters, with her own additions around them. She could be here a long time, but we didn't have long. "Mum, I'm gonna head upstairs, gonna write a list of stuff I'll need to pack that we have already. We'll need to send that letter off pretty soon. Where do we even send it?"

She looked up at me impatiently, "I don't know. Google it. I won't be too long."

I took that as my cue to leave and headed for the stairs in the hall. On the way up I peered out of the window on the small landing, cup of tea in hand, and that's when I understood how the letter would reach the mysterious Minerva woman; there was an owl sat on mum's car. This was how the letters had gotten to us in the first place, so it was only right that our response would be returned in the same way. I smiled, I still couldn't quite believe what was happening. I was going to a boarding school for people with magical powers, witches and wizards was what my letter said. I was a witch, I didn't quite know what that meant, but I was one, and I couldn't be happier about it.

I pushed open my bedroom door, spilling a little tea on my jeans, and turned my light on. I put my tea down on the small bedside table and sat down on my bed, not quite sure what to do with myself. I decided that I should give Mum an hour or so before I bothered her about the letter. I looked in the mirror above my bed and let out a groan. In my fit of sobs I had let my eyeliner and mascara drown my face and now resembled a panda crossed with a girl who hadn't slept in about four months; now was a perfect time for a shower. I pulled my short hair out of my little ponytail and gave it a quick brush through, it was blonde with pink bits then, I liked to play with my hair colour. You'd think my mother would care, since I'm not even twelve yet, but I guess she's just too busy. I slipped out of my hoodie and jeans and glanced at my near naked body. I've always been skinny but looking in the mirror all I saw was skin and bones, and I hated it. No matter what I ate, how little I exercised I could not put on weight. It was infuriating, especially since I was five foot nine, I was built like a pole.

Under the hot water of my shower I smiled. I had this strange feeling brewing inside of me. It was a mixture of fear, happiness and excitement. Was I finally gonna belong somewhere? I'd never had that before. When I was a little kid all the other brats pushed me away because one time I was playing in the sand pit at play group and I made a bucket levitate and hit Joshua Young in the face, without touching it. And then when I was at primary school I accidentally made some scissors cut Daisy Sampson's pigtails off. It got worse in my first term of secondary school though, I was painting in one of the art rooms at school, when a group of girls came in. These girls knew about what I had unintentionally done to Joshua and Daisy, they thought I was a freak. I was a freak to be honest. They started shouting 'Freaky-Deaky' at me over and over, I started to cry. I felt my skin go red from my toes to the roots of my hair. I had never been so mortified and angry, I had never been so awfully confronted about what I had never meant to do. One of the bigger girls, Georgina Roberts pushed me, hard.

"You're a freak, you are. A creepy little bitch with no friends. Even your own dad couldn't handle your weird ways could he?" she shouted in my face. I didn't know what to do. Her hot breath met the tears falling down my cheeks, tears of rage and frustration. I'd always had whispers in the corridors, rude stares, but no one had ever done this. No one ever said anything about my dad, I didn't think anyone knew. And that's when I lost it. I screamed, as loud as my lungs could give out sound, I gave them more to force out. I closed my eyes and screamed louder and louder, until I opened them again after about five seconds, to see Georgina Robert's up against the back wall of the empty art room, her friends pulled at her arms, but she was suspended there, unable to move. She screamed, she couldn't catch her breath. I gasped. What had I done? I blinked and she dropped, landing down on her outstretched arms. Her friends pulled her up, and she bawled. One of her arms had crunched and she gripped it close to her body, broken. They fled the art room and I just stood there, stunned. They told the nurse she had fallen in the hall, they lied for me. Well not for me, to protect themselves. They thought I was some kind of monster, they feared me, and so did the rest of the school after they discovered the truth about what had happened. I was ten years old, and subjected to the hatred of an entire school.

I let the hot water take away my unhappiness, and let it fill me with daydreams of what my new school- Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry- would be like. I imagined women with long pointed noses, broomsticks and pointy hats waving long black and white wands around casting spells and smiled. Would it really be like that? I turned the taps off and wrapped a warm towel around myself. I wandered back to my room and threw on a purple hoodie and some old white jeans, I brushed out my short hair and sat down on my bed, picking up an old notebook that was sat beside my half-drunk cup of tea. I started writing a list of various clothes and things I would need for my new school. I was too excited to sit still however so I finished my tea and walked back downstairs to the living room; to check up on my mum's progress with the letter.

"Muuuuuummmm? Is it nearly done? I know how we can send it." I said impatiently. She looked up, a small smile playing upon her lips.

"It sure is. How are we sending it" she replied calmly.

"By owl. There's one on your car."

"There's what on my what?"

"An owl. On your car. We just need to tie it to the owls foot and then its ready to go." I said matter of factly.

"On my car? Urgh... Fine. Get some string from the kitchen."

I went quickly to the kitchen and pulled some string from the draw where random things such as shoe polish and batteries were kept and brought the scissors back to her with the string. She folded the letter neatly and wrote 'For Ms Minerva McGonagall' on the front with a sceptical expression on her face. She passed it to me and followed me to the front door and out to her blue Volvo. I approached the owl slowly.

"Are you sure?" my mum asked nervously. I nodded, not wanting to disturb the majestic, and slightly scary bird before me. I reached out two fingers to its foot, where long talons were resting on Mum's bonnet. It raised its foot and I let a half smile appear, surprised my plan was working, but not wanting to jinx it. I undid the small bow on the letter and reached around the small brown owls leg with my fingers and tied the string, as tightly and carefully as I could around its foot. I stepped away, expecting it to fly away. It looked me in the eyes and waited. I didn't turn my back, I was still nervous of the intimidating little bird.

"Mum, it's not flying off." I whispered.

"What do we do?" she replied.

"Have you got any change on you?" I asked.

"Change? What does a bird need with change?"

"Just give me some change. I think we need to pay it."

She handed me a two pound coin and the bird automatically opened its beak, allowing me to place it in its grip. With that it let its wings blow out and flew off. Mum and I stood there for a moment, in awe, in shock.

"Well, that was weird." She muttered. I nodded, my eyes still on the clear August sky. I couldn't quite believe what had just happened. Mum wandered back to the front door and back inside, I looked around, no neighbours had seen what had happened. I followed her back inside.

We spent the rest of that evening eating pizza, watching TV, and talking about the letters. We were both as curious as each other to know the truth about Hogwarts.

"Maybe everyone flies around on dragons to get to lessons." she joked.

"Maybe one of my teachers will be a centaur!" I replied.

We went backwards and forwards like this until eleven o'clock when she sent me up to bed. I was tired. Really tired. This had to be the strangest day ever. I put my Superman pyjamas on and crawled into bed, ready for sleep to capture me. My head nestled into the pillow and I was gone, in a deep and dream filled slumber. I dreamt of massive towering dragons with gleaming emerald scales and snouts that exhaled torrents of fire. My sleeping head imagined unicorns, with glistening snow manes, golden hooves and a horn weaved from silver shining bone. My subconscious was exploring a magical assortment of creatures and beasts, I couldn't name half of them but they were there, reminding me of what was to come.

The night passed quickly and so did three more after that, empty days and dream filled nights until the owl returned. It tapped at the living room window with it's beak, a folded piece of yellowy paper tied to its foot. I yelped and called out to my mum from the setee, "MUM! ITS HERE! THE OWL!". I leapt up off the sofa and opened the window wide letting the little bird hop onto the windowsill. I untied the string and took a deep breath. The owl waited with baited breath similar to my mum stood beside me. The square of paper fit into the palm of my hand and was printed with a crimson wax seal with a shield-shaped crest in the centre. My name was on the other side in artistic, calligraphic handwriting, it was for me. I unfolded the tight creases carefully revealing a tea-stained colour parchment covered in this curly print. I cleared my throat and looked down closer.

"Dear Miss Hemway,

I write to you with regards to the letter we received from your mother Miss Diane Hemway. I understand that both you and your mother are confused as to how we found you, what Hogwarts is, how to obtain your school supplies and many other things. I hope I can provide a solution for these queries.  
>We found you easily really. We have people with hidden magical abilities-Squibs- in place in all muggle (non-magical) schools, to spot students with seemingly magical abilities. You were drawn to our attention at a young age at your primary school, Saint Johns, and we have been trying to keep a close eye ever since. We understand that you, like thousands of other children possess magical powers, and we at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry strive to harness those powers and help you develop them, so you can use them safely and intelligently." I took a breath and licked my lips, "Hogwarts is a school founded hundreds of years ago by four very powerful witches and wizards, we provide the highest standard magical teaching, and are situated in hundreds of acres of land protected by a multitude of enchantments. You should have no concern of your safety. We have after all been keeping students safe for hundreds even thousands of years. I move on to the topic of your introduction to the magical world, and we thought the best thing for you to do would be to be shown into our world by one of us, taken out to buy school supplies (with money our headmaster Albus Dumbledore will provide, in the way of a scholarship) and given some one to one information about your future in the wizarding world. We are sending Mr Neville Longbottom (our herbology teacher, and ambassador for muggle born students) to guide you through Diagon Alley and teach you the very basics of survival in the magical world. He will be arriving at your home at 11:30 am on the 25th of August, the day you should have received this owl. Please both have a suitcase packed for a few nights stay at the Leaky Cauldron, and Victoria please have everything from the muggle world she will need for this school term. We look forward to welcoming you to our institution of magical learning and hope you enjoy your time with our ex-pupil Mr Neville Longbottom.<p>

Kind regards and sincere best wishes,

Professor Minerva McGonagall.  
>Head of Gryffindor House.<br>Headmistress Of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry"

I breathed heavily after reading the lengthily letter. I looked up at my mum and she was stood there, mouth gaping open in awe and eyes wide. She was as stunned by this letter as I was. And then she spoke.

"Well we better get ourselves together, we only have an hour until this Longbottom fella arrives."

I grinned and she smiled back, a sparkle of pride and happiness in her eyes.

"Right well, um, I'm gonna go pack some stuff for um our trip and for um school...I guess." I said still dazzled. She nodded and wandered over to her desk collecting up some papers and flicking through them. I took that as my cue to leave and made my way up to my room to pack. I grabbed a rucksack and filled it with a couple of books, some fresh underwear for a few days, three hoodies, three t shirts, three pairs of jeans and my boots. I then pulled my suitcase from the depths of my cluttered wardrobe and removed the random stuff living in the bottom: a tea bag, some string and a broken hairbrush. I filled it with all the remaining t shirts in my wardrobe, besides the old ones from primary school that I was too lazy to throw out, all of my jeans, some leggings, my shower stuff; everything really, since I would be there until Christmas. Wow. I wouldn't see my mum until Christmas. I sat down on my bed and that's when it hit me. I was going to a place where I knew no one, knew nothing, and I'd have to learn how to control something I had always hated about myself. I gulped and let some sense trickle in. I told myself I would be okay, it would be an adventure. I told myself with such brutality so that I almost believed it. I stood up and went back to packing, folding, crumpling and searching, until I was ready. I strapped my purple and white rucksack onto my back and pulled up the cool black handle for my suitcase, getting a good grip. I smiled at my room for the last time and shut the door, pulling my things down the stairs.

"Mum, hurry up! I wanna be ready when this bloke gets here!" I yelled down the hall into my mum's bedroom. She came shuffling out with a smooth leather holdall packed with whatever she could need for the next few days.

"Ready?" I asked.

"Totally. Lets put it al near the front door. This Mr Longbottom should be here any minute. Cor, can you imagine being called Longbottom? Its hysterical!" she said with a loud high-pitched laugh. I chuckled too, nervously. The doorbell rang and I yelped. Mum pulled back her hair and strode to the door, much more confident than I was. She pulled it open and allowed the man at the door, obscured from my view to come inside and he did. Stood before me was a towering, warm faced man, slightly chubby, with a pair of wiry glasses resting on his nose. He was wearing long brown trousers, a checked jumper and a hideous beige anorak.

"Hello. You must be Victoria? I'm Professor Longbottom." he said simple.

"Hello sir. I'm Vicky... And you're a wizard." I said shakily. He smiled a warm smile, he was kind, and I could see that in his soft, comforting eyes.

"I understand from your mother here's letter that you are rather um well... confused about the process of Hogwarts entrance... and um going into the wizarding umm world. I will show you into the wizarding world and almost mentor you for the next err few weeks. If you're okay with um that of course..." he stuttered, obviously quite an anxious man.

"Yes of course err Mr Longbottom. We are ready when you are," I said looking up at Mum, she smiled down at me and then up at him, "Yeah so um... If you wanna show us the way." I grabbed my suitcase by the handle, threw my rucksack over a shoulder and stood expectantly.

"Alright then...Um...If you're ready we better be heading off." He said, turning and opening the front door for my mother and I. And that's when the bus squeezed itself up against the now slammed front door.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

"Organised stop for a Mr Neville..Longbottom? Longbottom! As in Potter, Weasley, Granger and Longbottom? Oh my-" a short spotty man began.

"Yes yes... That's err us three.." He mumbled, interrupting the yappy man. "Come on, on we get ladies, I'm all prepaid aren't I Mr Cutforth, by Hagrid?"

"Um...Yeah. On you get mate." The man said, confused by Mr Longbottom's abruptness.

We followed Professor Longbottom onto the long purple bus, guarded like Hell by not Cerberus, but the short spotty man named Mr Cutforth with cropped black hair and black-brown eyes, with a face that had been seemingly pebbledashed. Upon walking onto the bus my mother and I gasped. It was very long and wide, with large wooden dining tables with gold table clothes and gold upholstered matching chairs around them. Chandeliers gleamed above and shiny checked linoleum covered the floor. Odd women in long purple, red or green gowns sat at the tables, playing cars, reading the news and even talking to a cat. Men often sat with them in similar robes with longer sleeves, doing similar activities, cups of what I thought to be coffee in their hands. We carried on down the aisle between tables and Mr Longbottom selected us one near the back, where a large window showed my neighbours front gardens squished next to the bus. Mr Cutforth took our luggage from us and to our utter shock pulled out a little wooden stick, said something, and levitated it onto some shelves above us. I gasped and he chuckled, obviously in the know about us knowing nothing about magic. We sat down around the table and Cutforth asked us if we wanted any drinks.

"Um...Well...I don't know. What is there?" I asked, not knowing what to expect. Professor Longbottom let out a little chuckle, obviously finding the ignorance from my mother and I amusing.

"Why my dear, we have water, breakfast tea, mint tea, mandrake tea, green tea, coffee, pumpkin juice, butterbeer, firewhisky- although probably better for your mother-, and mead." He explained, my mother and I only knowing what half of these things were. We sat jaws dropped looking obviously very confused.

"They can have some butterbeer I think, cold, please um Mr Cutforth." Professor Longbottom ordered. "And I'll err take some pumpkin juice."

"Right y'ar Sir." said Mr Cutforth with a nod, and he raised the small wooden stick that he pulled from his pocket and said "Accio, pumpkin juice!" and without any hesitation a pitcher and glass of orange-brown liquid sped towards him and with a wave of the stick balanced onto our table. I gasped, as did my mother. "Accio, butterbeer!" he then said and the same happened with a pitcher of caramel-coloured liquid and two glasses; plop on our table. "Enjoy. Let me know if you want any food or more drinks." We nodded in awe as he walked away.

"Erm...Okay. Now that we have that sorted we haven't long before our stop so I'll err just um let you know where we are off to. We are going to Diagon Alley, a street and town dedicated to wizarding wares, it is the commercial centre to wizarding Britain and is easily the best err place to get all your supplies and show you how the wizarding community works... Is that all alright?" Mr Longbottom explained.

"Um...Yes. I think so. Nothing else really is there. Where abouts are we staying again?" my mother replied.

"Errr... The Leaky Cauldron. It's an inn." Mr Longbottom described, "Old, but it'll be alright for two nights."

"Right... Perfect." Mum agreed.

"Hang on," I said, struck by a random thought, "what about money? Do we pay with our normal pounds for all my school things?" I asked curiously.

"Oh yes! Um great question! Well, we will take you to a cash point before we cross over, and you can take out as much money as you feel you will need and then when we have crossed over we can go to Gringotts. It err a wizards bank, its run by goblins, frightening but very very safe. There we will trade on some of your muggle money for um wizarding money, which will be worth a lot more, may I just add." the teacher explained.

"So what is the currency?" Mum asked.

"Sickles, knutts and galleons. It'll be easier to explain when we have some of your own." he responded.

I nodded and leant forward clasping the wobbling cup before me in my hand, lifted it to my lips and took a sip. The cold liquid tasted sweet, and the foam on top decorated my upper lip; a caramelly moustache.

"Mmm...That's amazing!" I grinned at my mum and Mr Longbottom who had begun talking about my mother's business, stories I had heard a hundred times over.

"It's great isn't it. Please try some!" Mr Longbottom exclaimed, indicating for my mother to take a sip. She lifted her cup to her lips and sniffed the foam on top, we waited with baited breath. She took a sip and a huge smile spread across her face.

"That's magic!" She exclaimed, "Oh...Pardon the pun!" We all laughed as she licked foam from her top lip.

He picked up his cup and sipped the putrid looking orange fluid and didn't even wince. Maybe it tastes better than it looks I thought to myself, as I poured my next cup of butterbeer. They carried on chatting away about boring stuff: work, our house...I wanted to talk about magic but Mr Longbottom was so interested in our dull old life I felt rude changing the subject. They talked for ten more minutes and two more cups of butterbeer before I was sliding backwards and the speeding bus came to a halt, down a small alleyway.

"Longbottom! This is your stop, mate!" Mr Cutforth shouted from the front of the bus.

"Erm...Okay. Come on you two!" he said beckoning us forward, before raising a wooden stick and twirling it, mumbling, until our bags met us out of the bus doors.

"Good day, have a good 'un" Cutforth said as we hopped off.

"Yeah you-" I started, but before I could finish it was gone, I gasped.

"Don't people notice?" Mum asked.

"Nope...Well...You muggles can be a tad umm oblivious." Mr Longbottom replied rather rudely. "Right umm... We are on St Sebastians street. If we take the next left we will be able to get to a bank and then we will head to the Leaky Cauldron. Alright?" We nodded and started walking away from the dark and dingy alleyway tucked between houses.

"So are your family all wizards, professor?" I asked curiously.

"Well they were. My mother and err father...they well died. In a war a long time ago. The first time it happened...The war I mean. I used to live with my Gran before Hogwarts...She's a witch. I live at Hogwarts now, I teach Herbology. Study of magical plants and fungi. Really interesting stuff. I take first years so will be err teaching you, Vicky." He explained somewhat awkwardly.

"A war? A magic war?" I asked, confused.

"A long time ago, there was a man...He was errr... Called...err...V-v-Voldermort. He had a lot of followers and my parents fought him and he well killed them. He didn't one of his um followers did. Then he went into hiding a few years later and resurfaced 13 years after and well there was a battle across the wizarding world but the majority of it took part at well... Hogwarts. I fought. Me and my friends killed him. One of my friends was Harry Potter...His arch-enemy if you like..." He took a breath and stuttered, "You'll learn all about it in err History of Magic class. Much more interesting than my day."

"A war? At a school?" My mother asked, startled, as we walked.

"Yes. It was rather complicated...Perhaps we could buy a book on it when we get to Diagon Alle-" He stopped, "Here we go...A cash machine. Now £100 should be if I'm correct enough for what we need..."

"Only £100? That isn't much!" I asked.

"As I said, you can get much more in wizarding money for that. Take out more if you like of course..." He replied.

My mother stepped forward, put her card in the machine and requested £200, "Just to be safe" she said. We weren't well off but I knew she wanted me to have the best I could at this weird school.

"Right...Well we better be getting to the Leaky Cauldron... Let me just get a map out..." He pulled a folded map from his pocket and used the strange thin wooden stick to trace lines before a golden circle formed around the words Leaky Cauldron. "Right... Next right...Keep goin and then turn left...Off we go" He mumbled. We followed him through busy streets filled with regular people until we reached a deserted pub with a creaky door. " This is it!" he stated.

We walked through the cracked wooden door and my mother and I exchanged a quick glance of worry. Upon entering the pub we saw a woman sat at the bar, a large newspaper in her hands, a cup of steaming liquid in front of her and a cat circling her leg. Another man was sat at a table near the fireplace, which was blasting out heat, reading a book with the title 'Quidditch through the Ages'. He had a pitcher of what looked like butterbeer in front of him, and was wearing a long purple robe. The barman was short with a bald head and missing teeth, he was wiping down the dusty looking bottles behind him.

"Hullo, Tom. Got a couple of ladies who will have a room here for um a couple of nights... McGonagall sorted it all I think. Could we err leave their luggage here while we head onto Diagon Alley?" He said to the barman.

"Er 'course ya can Neville me lad. Accio, suitcases. I'll 'ave someone take em up to their room." He replied with a gaptooth grin and a croaky voice. The suitcases flew behind the bar.

"T-thanks Tom. We're gonna head through now... Be back in time for dinner." Mr Longbottom said before walking towards the far end of the pub.

"Have a good time now, ladies. Known Neville's family years, good lad. Good family too. Yer names are?" Tom the barman said.

"Umm I'm Vicky and this is my mum, Diane." I said nervously.

"Lovely to meet you." Mum piped up, equally as cautious.

"We better be off, come on." Mr Longbottom said.

We pushed open the wooden door in front of us and were faced with a small courtyard and a brick wall.

"Right," Mr Longbottom said stepping forward, " It's three up...Two across..." He tapped at the bricks with the wooden stick and gold laced the edges of the bricks he touched. A few seconds later a hole gradually appeared in the wall until it was from the stone floor up to a few inches from the top of the 7 foot wall. "Right, come on." Mr Longbottom said as we stood in shock. "I'll explain over some lunch, we need to get going to Gringott's now." and with that off we went through this hole. A cobbled street covered in people was before us, buildings decorating either side. The hustle and bustle of the street immediately made me smile. I saw a man with an owl on his arm, a woman in long golden robes and another man waving one of those mysterious wooden sticks around so that all of the books outside a shop fell into organised piles. "Welcome to Diagon Alley, ladies." Mr Longbottom said grandly. We started walking and he started talking with much more ease, "To your left is Flourish & Blotts, book shop. We'll visit there tomorrow for books. To your right Madame Malkins, robes. May have time to do that later... Watch out!" he said as I stumbled on a small creature, who was grey and about knee height, wearing an oversized mans t-shirt. It looked up at me with big glass eyes.

"Very sorry, young lady. Dizzy is very sorry." it said in a high pitched squeak before scrambling off.

"What was that?" I asked Mr Longbottom quietly.

"That's a house elf. Well, an elf these days, gotta be politically correct and all that. They're only little so keep an eye out..." He explained. I nodded as we turned left, to face a massive white, marble building. It said in gold print on a stretch of white marble between two columns 'Gringott's Bank'. Outside the front door was a creature a little taller than Dizzy the elf, whom I had trampled earlier, but was much uglier, with wrinkly grey skin and a pinched face. " A goblin They run Gringott's."

We walked forward, past the Goblin who scowled and tipped his red and black hat towards us. We walked through some open dark oak double doors and into a massive room, floored and walled in marble, with oak desks along either side, each home to a goblin like the one near the door. We walked about 80 metres before turning left, "Hinchforth. Here we are", Mr Longbottom said turning to face a desk where a small goblin was propped up on a tall chair, books and coins before him.

"Hinchforth, at your service. What is your business?" the goblin grumbled.

"Umm exchange. Muggle money, sir." Mr Longbottom muttered.

"How much?" said the goblin.

"£200, please sir." My mother piped up.

"Ah so the muggle woman speaks, hand it over then." the goblin said, hostile.

"H-here..." Mum said pulling it out of her purse and placing it across the desk from his long green fingernails and elongated hands, with prominent knuckles. He reached forward and slowly slid it across the table towards him.

"Right...Good...All there. Genuine. Two hundred. That will amount to 21 galleons, 12 sickles and 3 knuts. Alright?" he uttered to my mother, who stood before him perplexed.

"Yes yes. That'll be plenty. Absolutley." Mr Longbottom said in her place. Hinchforth nodded and pushed the coins across the table, a pile of large palm-sized gold ones, some smaller silver and two tiny bronze. "Good day Hinchforth." Mr Longbottom said, with a nervous grin.

"Yes yes. Good. Next please." the grumpy goblin replied as we turned to walk out of the bank, my mother shoving all of the coins into her handbag.

"Right, lets go to Ollivanders first, then we will get some lunch." Neville said as we left the huge white building.

"Professor, what is Ollivanders?" I asked him.

"A wand shop, Vicky. You can't do magic without a wand." He replied, turning back to the main street, where more people were pushing and shoving along.

"A wand. Is that what that odd wooden stick is?" I asked him.

"Yes, that's it. Gosh, I just presumed you knew that." He chuckled. We carried on walking for a few minutes before he stopped again and we turned right to an aged black storefront, with 'Ollivanders and Son. Finest wands for witches and wizards.' inscribed in silver above the door. "Always forget there's young Joseph now. Someone had to take over I guess... After old Ollivander went a little loopy." He muttered to himself and my mother pushed open the black door. The room was stuffy and dusty, with shelves covering every wall and a long black counter across the back wall, a young man in half-moon glasses sat behind it writing with a long, purple feather quill. He had dark blonde hair, and was wearing a navy blue robe, a wooden stick and ruler sat beside him. Was he measuring a...wand?

"Hullo there. Hogwarts newbie are you? Muggle? Ah Professor. My father speaks of you fondly." The young man said without looking up.

"Um hello, Joseph. Always a pleasure. How is your old man? Last time I saw you was a third year Herbology class. Must be what...20 now?" Mr Longbottom said calmly and in a friendly manner, to his ex-student.

"Yes yes. Plants weren't really my thing were they? Father is well. He sleeps a lot and mumbles a lot about that Harry Potter of course..." he trailed off, looking up. "Muggle then? First wand?" he directed his question at me.

"Y-yes sir." I mumbled nervously.

"Don't be scared girl. Come here..." he said motioning for me to go towards him. My mother placed a hand on my back, directing me forwards.

"Right...Good...I think we will try a unicorn hair first, elm, 8 and a half inches. Quite sturdy." he said pulling a box from a shelf behind him, it was long and thin, bound in green level. From the box he pulled out a wooden stick, a wand, and pulled my hand out, placing it in it. I wrapped my fingers around it slowly and looked up at him blankly.

"W-what do I do?" I asked, terrified.

"Just raise it and wave it a little." He chuckled. I did as he asked, and drew a V with it in the air, producing a few small red sparks that made me jump a little.

"Hmm...maybe try another." He said pensively, "how about this...dragon heart string, 9 and a quarter inches, yew. Quite springy." He took the other from me and placed it in my outstretched hand. I gripped it again and did the same as before, producing a stream of silver sparks this time, which made me yelp.

"Very nice!" Mr Longbottom said, my mother smiling beside him.

"Good. That'll do the trick. Now...That'll be 5 Galleons please, young Vicky. Presuming you want it?" he inquired.

I looked up at my mum. She grinned back. "Go for it Vicky. You can't do this without it. Go on!"

"Yes please, sir." I said proudly, as she fumbled in her bag pulling out some coins.

"Five gold ones please, Madame." She counted them out and handed them over. "Wonderful, here is your wand. I hope you have a wonderful time at Hogwarts, do come back and see me if you ever need any wand advice."

"Yes, thank you! Of course." I said taking the green leather-bound box with a smile.

"Goodbye Joseph. Give your father my regards." Mr Longbottom said.

"Yes yes. Of course." Joseph said, already looking down at a book in front of him. We turned out of the door, me clutching my box, and took a breath of less musty dusty air.

"They are an odd lot those Ollivanders. No one knew of his mother until after the war. No one knew old Ollivander had a baby son...Shady business that." Mr Longbottom mumbled.

"I've got a wand!" I exclaimed, my mother laughed.

"You do, indeed. Now, some food I think. Lets go down the road to Fortescue's. Anyone mind ice cream for lunch?" he grinned.

"Of course not! I'm starving!" my mum exclaimed.

"Onwards then." We headed back onto the main street and down a little further until we reached a pastel pink building with pastel blue tables and chairs dotted around the pavement outside, men and women sat around with children gorging themselves on sweet treats. We picked a table near the door to the ice cream shop and sat around it, I carefully placed my wand box on the table. As soon as our backsides touched the chairs an elf, similar to the one we had seen earlier appeared next to my mother with a wide grin on its odd face.

"Hiya! Any drinks? Flavour of the day is Sherbet Lemon. I am Floppy. I will be serving you today." said the little elf chirpily.

My mother let out a little laugh as Mr Longbottom went to talk, but she then interrupted him, "Yes, please could we have two cups of butterbeer and a pumpkin juice?" I grinned and so did Mr Longbottom, surprised by my mothers audacity.

"Yes yes. Ice cream?" chirped the little elf.

"Could we have a big bowl of the best?" my mother continued.

"Why yes, madam. I'll choose Fortescue's finest!" Floppy said happily, before tottering off in the store, singing to herself.

"Right. So... How are you finding the-" Mr Longbottom began before he stood up and grinned. "Luna! Luna!" he called, and a blonde woman with pale skin and a girl about my age at her side turned around, a similar grin forming on her face. She started walking towards us.


End file.
